RIMT COLLEGE OF ARCHITECTURE, SUBMITTED BY:-

AYUSHI JAIN

VERNACULAR ARCHITECTURE

VERNACULAR ARCHITECTURE IS A CATEGORY OF ARCHITECTURE BASED ON LOCALIZED NEEDS AND CONSTRUCTION MTERIALS, AND REFLECTING LOCAL TRADITIONS.

VERNACULAR ARCHITECTURE TENDS TO EVOLVE OVER TIME TO REFLECT .

THE ENVIRONMENTAL, CULTURAL, TECHNOLOGICAL, AND HISTORICAL CONTEXT IN WHICH IT EXISTS.

IT HAS OFTEN BEEN DISMISSED AS CRUDE AND UNREFINED, BUT ALSO HAS PROPONENTS WHO HIGHLIGHT ITS IMPORTANCE IN CURRENT DESIGN.

IT CAN BE CONTRASTED AGAINST POLITE ARCHIECTURE WHICH IS CHARACTERISED BY STYLISTIC ELEMENTS OF DESIGN INTENTIONALLY INCORPORATED FOR AESTHETIC PURPOSES WHICH GO BEYOND A BUILDING'S FUNCTIONAL REQUIREMENTS. 

TRADITION VS MODERN

• THIS IS NOT MEANT TO BE A BATTLE BETWEEN TRADITIONAL AND MODERN FORMS OF ARCHITECTURE.

• ESPECIALLY IN INDIA THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS ONE TRADITIONAL INDIAN ARCHITECTURE.

• EVERY DISTRICT HAS ITS OWN TRADITIONS AND, BY TRIAL AND ERROR, OVER THOUSANDS OF YEARS, PEOPLE HAVE

• LEARNED HOW TO USE, AND TO COPE WITH, ALL THE MANY FACTORS WHICH ARE INVOLVED IN ARCHITECTURE. – THE

• SITE, THE TOPOGRAPHY AND GEOLOGY. THE CLIMATE AND VEGETATION, THE AVAILABLE LOCAL MATERIALS – THE

• RELIGIOUS AND CULTURAL PATTERNS OF LIVING, AND THE MAIN LOCAL OCCUPANTS.

VERNACULAR ARCHITECTURE AND AN ARCHITECT

• MANY MODERN ARCHITECTS HAVE STUDIED VERNACULAR BUILDINGS AND CLAIMED TO DRAW INSPIRATION FROM THEM, INCLUDING ASPECTS OF THE VERNACULAR IN THEIR DESIGNS.

• IN 1964 THE EXHIBITION ARCHITECTURE WITHOUT ARCHITECTS WAS PUT ON AT THE MUSEUM OF MODERN ART, NEW YORK BY BERNARD RUDOFSKY. ACCOMPANIED BY A BOOK OF THE SAME TITLE, INCLUDING BLACK-AND-WHITE PHOTOGRAPHY OF VERNACULAR BUILDINGS AROUND THE WORLD, THE EXHIBITION WAS EXTREMELY POPULAR.

• IT WAS RUDOFSKY WHO FIRST MADE USE OF THE TERM VERNACULAR IN AN ARCHITECTURAL CONTEXT, AND BROUGHT THE CONCEPT INTO THE EYE OF THE PUBLIC AND OF MAINSTREAM ARCHITECTURE .

• SINCE THE EMERGENCE OF THE TERM IN THE 1970S, VERNACULAR CONSIDERATIONS HAVE PLAYED AN INCREASING PART IN ARCHITECTURAL DESIGNS, ALTHOUGH INDIVIDUAL ARCHITECTS HAD WIDELY VARYING OPINIONS OF THE MERITS OF THE VERNACULAR.

VERNACULAR ARCHITECTURE DEALS WITH ECONOMICS OF

BUILDING CONSTRUCTION• VERNACULAR ARCHITECTURE

DEPENDS ON ECONOMIC, CLIMATIC, SYMBOLIC AND TECHNOLOGICAL ASPECTS

AAT CHALA HOUSE, WITH EIGHT SLOPING ROOFS IN TWO TIERS, VISHNUPUR,WEST BENGAL.

THATCH ROOF

BAMBOO

MUD HOUSE

BRITIGHAR (the house and all its rooms fenced within one boundary)

CLASSIFICATION OF RURAL HOUSES Structurally, the traditional rural houses may be grouped in seven types:

CHOUSHALA (four rooms on four raised sides and a uthan or open space in the middle);

ATCHALA (house with eight roofs, four over the main building and four over the verandas attached on each side) 

The traditional Bengali dwelling provided a model for the British bungalow (BANGLA).

The BANGLA was a hut, generally built with a distinctively curved roof ,also called EKABANGLA

CHARCHALA is a rural hut in West Bengal with twelve sloping sides in the roof in three tiers.

JORBANGLA is a twin hut structure.

The walls were generally made of mud. Where the mud was not suitable for this purpose, walls were constructed of bunches of straw or mats, tied to each other and to the bamboo frame to form walls.

TECHNOLOGY ADAPTED

. Bangla type structure With gable ended roof,

Gaur Chaitanya Deva temple at Guptipara, Burdwan .(late 18th century)

The frame of a bangla was typically constructed entirely of bamboo, though wood posts and beams were occasionally used in the houses of the very wealthy.

The thatched roof generally extended beyond the walls to provide additional shelter from the rains and one side of the roof was often extended four or five feet beyond the wall and supported by a row of bamboo poles to create a small veranda.

TECHNOLOGY ADAPTED

CONSTRUCTION TECHNIQUE

"Oblong shaped mud-walled houses with thatch and tile roof are common in West Bengal, the roof of the mud-walled house which is peculiar to only this area. The mud is dried in the form of block for building houses. The gaps between the blocks are filled in with clay.

Mud-walled houses with One to Two levels of roof are common in central bengal.Mud-walled house with long grass-thatched roof is common. This type of house is also common in West bengal.

Mud house plan

Mud collection and dumping for seasoningTypical Homestead Layout

Mud collection and dumping for seasoning Seasoning of mud in layers

Scale model

RAMMED EARTH

THATCH/KHAD

BAMBOO FRAME WORK

MATERIAL AVAILABLE

TECHNOLOGY ADOPTED

The vernacular architecture and construction methods have developed through the local innovation and availability of building material.

The general building tradition in the area uses clay walls plastered on a bamboo framework or rammed earth core walls up to two stories.

The walls support a roof construction made of bamboo and covered with paddy-straw with a thatching of a more durable grass.

The quality and durability of the paddy-straw for thatching has been reduced, hence the need for roof maintenance has increased over the years.

This has led to the use of modern concrete based and brick walls constructions being used in the few newer buildings in the rural areas and more commonly in the towns

TECHNOLOGY ADOPTED

BAMBOO

THATCH

ROPE

CONSTRUCTION OF BAMBOO AND THATCH IN A HOUSE

THATCH AREA

BALLI

MUD FILLED IN BAMBOO

STRAW

BAMBOO USED TO STREGTHEN THE WALL

MUD FLOORING

BAMBOO

MUD AND STRAW MORTAR

STRAW-BALE

• Bales of rice, wheat or oat straw are laid in a running bond pattern (like bricks), tied together with pins, and then plastered with earth, lime or cement stucco.

• Such a straw bale home saves as much as 75% of heating and cooling costs.

• It is cheap and easily available.

• It has high insulation value.

• Buildings build with straw-bale walls in combination with conventional building methods have proven to be very strong, durable, extremely economical to heat, cool in the summer, acoustically quiet, aesthetically appealing, ecologically friendly, very fast, and easy to construct.

• Earth bags are soil-filled fabric sacks or tubes used to create walls and domes.

• Traditionally used for flood control and by armies to create bunkers, this method of construction has been recently turned to a variety of natural construction purposes.

• To build with this technique, moistened soil is placed into a bag set in place on the wall, the bag is lowered into place, then compressed using a hand tamper.

• Heavy earth mixtures can be used with weaker burlap bags as the compressed soil makes the bags redundant once it sets.

• Stronger, structural polypropylene bags are preferable for sandy soils.

• Recycled sacks are often available free or at minimal cost. In earthquake prone areas, a layer of long-point barbed wire is used as "mortar" between the bags to contain slipping.

• Domes using these materials are easily achieved with a corbelling system utilizing long tubes made of the polypropylene bags.

EARTH BAGS

STABILIZED MUD BLOCKS

• Can be of any size.

• But if the block is too big then it is difficult to lift.• • An ordinary, large burnt brick size is good, then masons need no

special training to build.

• You can make moulds so that several blocks can be made at one time.

COMPOSITE BEAM AND PANEL ROOFS

• This concept exploits the efficiency of beam and slab construction.

• The roofing system consists of partially precast or cast-in-situ ribs/beams at certain spacing covered with panels..

• The panels and beams are connected through shear connectors to achieve composite action. Varieties of options are available for the beams (precast reinforced concrete, rolled steel sections, trussed steel members, timber, steel, concrete composite, etc.) and panels (precast concrete, reinforced brickwork, stone slabs, hollow hourdi tile, reinforced SMB panel, etc.).

• The profile for the panels could be curved, folded plate or flat. Use of curved shape panels results in a composite jack-arch roof. The beam cross section can also be adjusted to minimize the material consumption. The major advantages of this type of roofing system are:

(i) possibility of prefabrication and quick erection, (ii) better quality assurance due to prefabrication, (iii) savings in volume of materials and hence cost effectiveness, (iv) Possibility of using hollow panels to increase thermal comfort.

A typical composite reinforced tile-work panel roof

EARTH SHELTERING

•Practice of using earth against building walls for external thermal mass, to reduce heat loss, and to easily maintain a steady indoor air temperature.

•Earth berming: Earth is piled up against exterior walls and packed, sloping down away from the house. The roof may, or may not be, fully earth covered, and windows/openings may occur on one or more sides of the shelter. Due to the building being above ground, fewer moisture problems are associated with earth berming in comparison to underground/fully recessed construction.

•In-hill construction: The house is set into a slope or hillside. There is only one exposed wall in this type of earth sheltering, the wall facing out of the hill, all other walls are embedded within the earth/hill.

•Underground/fully recessed construction: The ground is excavated, and the house is set in below grade. It can also be referred to as an Atrium style due to the common atrium/courtyard constructed in the middle of the shelter to provide adequate light and ventilation.

• Benefits•They include: taking advantage of the earth as a thermal mass, offering extra protection from the natural elements, energy savings, providing substantial privacy, efficient use of land in urban settings, •shelters have low maintenance requirements.

Earth berming

TECHNOLOGY ADAPTED :

Technology Adapted The vernacular architecture and construction methods have developed through the local innovation and availability of building material.

The general building tradition in the area uses clay walls plastered on a bamboo framework or rammed earth core walls up to two stories.

the walls support a roof construction made of bamboo and covered with paddy-straw with a thatching of a more durable grass.

In the villages of Assam, bamboo building is common even today. The houses are detailed out to combat the heavy monsoons.

The floor of the house is a bamboo weave that allows the water of a flood to flow in, rather than keep it out.

This is an important principle of sustainable development.

During this time, the inhabitants of the houses get into the canoe that every house stores in the stilt area below the bamboo floor.

When the flood waters recede, the assumes people occupy their house again. The belongings are protected by putting them up on the bamboo loft.

The roof of the house is built with local grass and can last upto 10 years before it is replaced again.

TECHNOLOGY ADAPTED :

An earth plastering is often done over a close-knit bamboo wall for further protection. 

DHAJJI - WALL

• It literally means a 'patch quilt wall.'

• This technique uses timber and bricks but is quite different from modern brick construction.

• A framework of timber is made which is then filled with burnt clay bricks.

• Presence of timber studs gives a sturdy framework and divides the brickwork into small sections. As a result the individual sections resist shaking and this prevents destruction of the wall.

• Dhajji - deewar system is often used for walls of upper stories, especially for the gable portion of the wall, even when the walls in bottom stories could be made of brick or stone masonry.

STILTED HOUSE

• These are single storey structures built on a raised platform made from bamboo strips.

• Bamboo beams are placed diagonally, under the floor as bracing to reduce the sway.

• It has a mud foundation.

• The walls are called ekra walls.

• Ekra walls - a framework of vertical posts is set in the ground and split reeds or bamboo are woven to form a lattice. Mud is applied to this framework to make a thin wall. All the structures are tied together with ropes to keep the unit together. Ekra walls have less mass and are flexible so they can survive earthquakes.

COB HOUSES

•The first, simplest and almost certainly the oldest system is called “COB”. With only a little water to form a very stiff mud.

•A large lump of it - as much as you can hold together between your two hands - is roughly molded into the shape of a huge elongated egg .

The usual size is anything between 12 to 18-inches, (30 to 40-cm) long and about 6-inches (15-cm) in diameter.

•When three or four courses have been laid, one above the other, the sides are smoothed over so that the holes and cracks disappear.

RAMMED EARTH

• it gives a sandstone like appearance.

• the structure can take up to two years to completely cure.

• the life of rammed earth walls is usually very long and they can carry heavy floors and roofs and be used for two and even three storey buildings.

FILLER SLAB CONSTRUCTION

•As the name implies, ‘filling up’ of unnecessary parts of concrete in an ordinary reinforced concrete slab, with light weight materials, makes a filler slab.

• This improves its insulating properties and create pleasing soffits.

•The resulting lightweight slab reduces the requirement of steel reinforcement, there by, achieving further economy.

• This can be designed for any span and loads. Bricks, Mangalore pattern tiles, coconut shells, inverted earthen pots, etc. can be used as filler materials.

JAALIS

An aesthetic element from the archives of architecture.

the jaali is basically perforations in a wall created for allowing light and ventilation, the most fundamental being a wall with its header blocks removed.

Modifying the proportions of perforations, according to the solar angle ,can help control the influx of radiations to quite and extent.

Brick jails sealed with pieces of glass can economically provided pleasing, diffused light.

BRICK JALIES

STICK FRAME CONSTRUCTION

Framing, in construction known as light-frame construction, is a building technique based around structural members, usually called studs, which provide a stable frame to which interior and exterior wall coverings are attached, and covered by a roof comprising horizontal ceiling joists and sloping rafters (together forming a truss structure) or manufactured pre-fabricated roof trusses—all of which are covered by various sheathing materials to give weather resistance.

Diagonal bracing remains a vital interior part of many roof systems, and in-wall wind braces are required by building codes in many municipalities or by individual state laws in the United States.

Light frame construction using standardized dimensional lumber has become the dominant construction method in North America and Australia because of its economy.

Use of minimal structural materials allows builders to enclose a large area with minimal cost, while achieving a wide variety of architectural styles.

LARSEN TRUSS CONSTRUCTION

A Larsen truss is a type of wall truss used to build a thick wall — thick enough to provide room for above-average amounts of insulation

A Larsen truss is usually site-built. Because the truss is not required to bear any roof load, its components are light. The original Larsen truss consisted of two parallel 2x2s connected by small rectangular gussets of 3/8-inch-thick plywood. The gussets measured 6½" x 8¼" each and were spaced 24 inches apart. A completed Larsen truss looked like a ladder with rectangular plywood rungs.

Larsen trusses are designed to be attached to the exterior surface of the wall sheathing of a new home. In most cases, these homes were framed with conventional 2x4 or 2x6 studs. Larsen trusses can also be used in retrofit work, in which case they are installed on top of the existing siding.

EFFECT OF CLIMATE ON VERNACULAR ARCHITECTURAL FORM

• CLIMATE, IN PARTICULAR, PRODUCES CERTAIN EASILY OBSERVED EFFECTS ON ARCHITECTURAL FORMS. FOR EXAMPLE, THE PROPORTION OF WINDOW AREA TO WALL AREA BECOMES LESS AS ONE MOVES TOWARD THE EQUATOR. IN WARM AREAS, PEOPLE SHUN THE GLARE AND HEAT OF THE SUN, AS DEMONSTRATED BY THE DECREASING SIZE OF THE WINDOWS.

• IN THE SUBTROPICAL AND TROPICAL ZONES, MORE DISTINCTIVE CHANGES IN ARCHITECTURAL FORM OCCUR TO MEET THE PROBLEMS CAUSED BY EXCESSIVE HEAT.

• IN EGYPT, IRAQ, INDIA, AND PAKISTAN, DEEP LOGGIAS, PROJECTING BALCONIES, AND OVERHANGS CASTING LONG SHADOWS ON THE WALLS OF BUILDINGS ARE FOUND. WOODEN OR MARBLE LATTICES FILL LARGE OPENINGS TO SUBDUE THE GLARE OF THE SUN WHILE PERMITTING THE BREEZE TO PASS THROUGH.

• SUCH ARRANGEMENTS CHARACTERIZE THE ARCHITECTURE OF HOT ZONES, AND EVOKE COMFORT AS WELL AS AESTHETIC SATISFACTION WITH THE VISIBLE ENDEAVORS OF MAN TO PROTECT HIMSELF AGAINST THE EXCESSIVE HEAT.

• TODAY A GREAT VARIETY OF DEVICES SUCH AS SUN-BREAKERS OR BRISE-SOLEIL HAVE BEEN ADDED TO THE VOCABULARY OF ARCHITECTURAL FEATURES IN THESE ZONES.

•

EXAMPLES

Village Architecture in Jordan

Artic Circle

House in Jaisalmer desert (India)

Apa-Tani Tribal-house (Arunachal Pradesh)

Yawning Field hutBangkok city

• NOTICE, TOO, HOW THE GABLED ROOF DECREASES IN PITCH AS THE RATE OF PRECIPITATION DECREASES. IN NORTHERN EUROPE AND MOST DISTRICTS SUBJECTED TO HEAVY SNOW, GABLES ARE STEEP, WHILE IN THE SUNNIER LANDS OF THE SOUTH, THE PITCH STEADILY DECREASES. IN THE HOT COUNTRIES OF THE NORTH AFRICAN COAST THE ROOFS BECOME QUITE FLAT, IN SOME AREAS PROVIDING A COMFORTABLE PLACE TO SLEEP. STILL FURTHER SOUTH, IN THE TROPICAL RAINFALL ZONE, THE ROOFS ARE AGAIN STEEP TO PROVIDE PROTECTION FROM THE TORRENTIAL DOWNPOURS TYPICAL OF THE REGION.

• IT IS WORTH NOTING THAT SO LONG AS THE PEOPLE OF THE HUMID TROPICAL REGIONS BUILT THEIR HUTS WITH REEDS AND GRASS, WHICH ALLOWED AIR TO PASS THROUGH THE WALLS, THE STEEPLY PITCHED ROOF WAS A USEFUL DEVICE. HOWEVER, ONCE THEY BEGAN TO USE MORE SOPHISTICATED MATERIALS LIKE CEMENT BLOCK AND THE COMMON GABLED ROOF TOPPED WITH CORRUGATED IRON SHEETS, THE HOUSES BECAME UNBEARABLY HOT AND STUFFY. THIS KIND OF ROOF PREVENTS THE CATCHING OF DRAUGHTS AT THE VERY LEVEL WHERE THEY PREVAIL, AND THE SOLID WALLS PREVENT THE PASSAGE OF AIR.

TOPOGRAPHY• Topography is a general term in geography, which refers to the lie of the land, or various other characteristics of

Physical geography in a region; this is usually expressed in terms of the elevation, slope, and orientation of terrain features. The understanding of these features is an integral aspect of geography, encompassing the practice of cartography, surveying, and GIS. The topography of an area often has a great influence on its weather and sometimes on climate.

• Topology refers to the configuration of surface features of a plot of land, which influences where, and how to build and develop a site. To study the response of a building design to the topography of a site, we can use a series of site sections or a site plan with contour lines.

• Contour lines are imaginary lines joining points of equal elevation above a datum or bench mark. The trajectory of each contour line indicates the shape of the land formation at that elevation. Note that contour lines are always continuous and never cross one another, have they coincided in a plan view when they cut across a vertical surface.

Nago Hut Apatani tribe; Arunachal Pradesh

Dwelling at Nakabaru (Ikei Island)

SOCIAL CUSTOMSThese can be defined as:• The accepted traditional customs and usages of a particular social group. • Moral attitudes. • Manners; ways.

Although the term "social" is a crucial category in social science and often used in public discourse, its meaning is often vague, suggesting that it is a fuzzy concept. An added difficulty is that social attributes or relationships may not be directly observable and visible, and must be inferred by abstract thought.

In law, custom, or customary law consists of established patterns of behaviour that can be objectively verified within a particular social setting. Generally, customary law exists where

• a certain legal practice is observed • the relevant actors consider it to be law

Effect of Social Customs on Vernacular Architectural Form• 1. The typical Muslim house was built on a standard pattern: a rectangular house built around a central

courtyard with high windowless walls on the outside with a single low door. The interior space was important, not the outside.

• 2. As family size increased, more rooms were built on the lot's unused land. Once the land around the courtyard has been covered, expansion took place in a vertical direction.

• 3. Part of the house is separated for females. The men's reception (or guest) room tends to be located next to the entrance lobby of the house so that visitors do not meet with the females or violate the harem (the women's part of the house).

DakshinaChitra is a unique Heritage Centre located on the east coast road in Muttukadu on the way to Mahabalipuram which offers the visitor an unforgettable & authentic insight into the lifestyles of the diverse peoples of South India. Traditional craftspersons & folk artists work & perform in the reconstructed period settings of 19th century streets, homes & workshop-spaces in the TamilNadu & Kerala sections. These are presently open to the public. 

Enter the TamilNadu section through a majestic carved wooden doorway of a century-old merchant house from Chettinad. An exhibition on Tamil culture is on display here. Proceed to the 150 year old agriculturist house from the fertile delta region of Thanjavur. Next, see a potter's house from Tiruvallur with its terracotta exhibition. Step into the humble adobe-and-thatch huts of the basket-weavers, and on to the shrine of Ayyanar, the village guardian-deity.

Dakshina Chitra

The typical house of a brahmin in Tamilnadu

Kartar House (Punjab Village)

LIFE STYLE

• In sociology, a lifestyle is the way a person (or a group) lives. This includes patterns of social relations, consumption, entertainment, and dress. A lifestyle typically also reflects an individual's attitudes, values or worldview.

• Having a specific "lifestyle" implies a conscious or unconscious choice between one set of behaviours and some other sets of behaviours.

• In business, "lifestyles" provide a means of targeting consumers as advertisers and marketers endeavor to match consumer aspirations with products.

• The term "lifestyle" apparently first appeared in 1939. Alvin Toffler predicted an explosion of lifestyles ("subcults") as diversity increases in post-industrial societies. Pre-modern societies did not require a term approaching sub-culture or "lifestyle", as different ways of living were expressed as entirely different cultures, religions, ethnicities or by an oppressed minority racial group. As such the minority culture was always seen as alien or other. "Lifestyles", by comparison, are accepted or partially accepted differences within the majority culture or group. This tolerance of differentiation within a majority culture seems to be associated with modernity and capitalism.

Fishermen with nets in central court of Houses

Traditional Weavers House In Andhra Pradesh Bullocks for dairy at Pokahara

Chitwan Farming on the plains at the base of the Himalayas

Goan Farmer's House Exterior And Interior